Slovak PM threatens to stop diesel fuel supply due to disruptions in Russian oil transit

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico during a meeting with Myroslav Kastran, the Ukrainian ambassador to Slovakia, threatened to stop the supply of diesel fuel to Ukraine if Kyiv did not resume the oil transit of the Russian Lukoil company.

Fico stated on Facebook that he discussed the issue of Lukoil exports with Ukrainian Ambassador Myroslav Kastran. Juraj Blanár, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia, and Marek Eštok, Slovak Secretary of State, were also present at the meeting.

"If the transit of Russian oil through Ukraine is not resumed shortly, Slovnaft [Slovak oil refining company – ed.] will not resume the supply of diesel fuel to Ukraine, which covers a tenth of Ukrainian consumption," he said.

Fico added that the resumption of the Russian oil supply was connected with a "technical decision" but it has to be coordinated by several countries at once.

"The EU, if it wants to get out of total influence of the US, will have to consider forms of cooperation with the Russian Federation which have to provide for cooperation in the sector of strategic raw materials," Fico believes.

Hungary and Slovakia were the exceptions within the all-European ban on the import of Russian oil after the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. But recently Kyiv ordered a halt to the transit of the oil products of Russian oil company Lukoil through the Druzhba oil pipeline.

Ukraine insists that the same amount of oil as before is being transferred through the pipeline thanks to other Russian companies. Hungary and Slovakia claim that Kyiv’s decision put their energy security under threat.